Talos and the Chimerion Volume 1
by TalosAndTheChimerion
Summary: Welcome back to Beacon as the next round of students make their way to their to the Emerald Forest! Follow Aaron, Balthazar, Serena and Rolf as their adventure in the world of Remnant unfold as they uncover mysteries of ancient threats and even meet up with the original gang from RWBY! There will be action, adventure, drama, love, magic and occasionally A GIANT ROBOT!
1. Episode 1: Disorientation

_**Welcome to the first installment, of what I hope will be many, in a story called "Talos and the Chimerion," an OC. This is my first fanfiction, and I started writing this at the end of the summer in my pre-season RWBY hype. I've never written a fan fiction before so to help me I grabbed a couple of my friends to help me edit and gave their opinions on the piece. Together we have written and finalized this chapter of "Talos and the Chimerion" and hope to share it with you!**_

_**As background: This story takes place during the next round of acceptances at Beacon academy and Ruby Rose and the gang are now second year students. The story follows a new set of entrants with their own unique talents and ambitions. Team RWBY and many of the upper year teams will make appearances and will have major roles in the story, however are not protagonists, so they will not be appearing in every chapter, or be the main character of said chapter.**_

_**This first volume is focusing mainly on the students as they form as a team and develop as characters. I would just like to mention that I do not claim ownership of any character or setting from the RoosterTeeth production of RWBY, but I do think that it and the worl that surrounds it are awesome enough to deserve another fan fiction OC. Since this is my first fan fiction, I would really appreciate a review after you've read through it! I will put them all into consideration when writing and editing future chapters.**_

_**Without further ado, I present to you the first episode, of "Talos and the Chimerion"**_

_Written by Alexander Simone_

_Edited by Carl Lam_

_Talos and the Chimerion_

**_Episode 1: Disorientation_**

As the airship approached the docks of beacon academy the students gawked in amazement at the sheer size of the tower before them. For many students it was their first time seeing beacon, but for Aaron it was about his fourth. Or was it his fifth?

Aaron was shorter than most of the fighters in the ship. He had a tanned complexion with neat brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Compared to some of the seasoned warriors here, he looked more like a civilian than he did a potential hunter. His combat gear consisted of crude boiled leather armor with various metal frames attached.

He had tried for years to actually get in to beacon and finally was accepted. Unlike most of the people on this airship, Aaron did not have the standard combat training. He was raised into a family of farmers who had no love for fighting.

All of his ancestors until now had been farmers. They had mainly farmed wheat but had recently expanded to new crops and were the leading supplier for Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes. Though Aaron had no recollection of ever tasting any crop in that cereal.

There was a mechanic that came around the farm to fix the tractors that served as his mentor. Though he was a simple mechanic, he possibly had one of the top minds in all of Remnant. He had never divulged the reason why he did not become a leading scientist, but Aaron was too busy learning new things from him to care. It was only after he left that the thought occurred to him.

He had always remembered the last lesson the old mechanic gave him. Destiny, his mentor had said. Destiny always catches up with you. No matter who you are, no matter what you do to avoid it, destiny will always find you. Personally, Aaron thought his mentor was being a little superstitious, but at the same time he respected him so he tried as best as he could, against his better judgement, to heed his warning. The old mechanic left a few days later, saying goodbye to each of his friends. A friend of his in Atlas needed some help on improving an old digging machine and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Not long after his mentor left, Aaron ran away from home to pursue his dream of becoming a hunter. His father had never understood his desire to become a hunter and it created a chasm between them that neither could resolve. He loved his family. His parents, his cousins, even at times his little brother but no matter how much he loved them he would not let them interfere with his dream. Before he left, he wrote a note saying that he was going to leave, that he loved them all, and that this was the last time he would contact them.

If he wanted to be a great hunter then there would be people who would try and get to him by any means necessary. Aaron could not in good conscious allow his family to be harmed, even though he and his father had not seen eye to eye in a long time. After one last fight Aaron had finally built up the resolve to leave.

For the past five years Aaron lived in a small shack beside the train tracks that the Schnee dust company used to transport dust from Atlas to Vale. There he found enough scrap metal to start building his own unique weapon. He had learned a lot from his mentor about mechanics and programming robotics, but had not learned very much about combat or the basics about being a hunter. This he had to learn on his own.

Occasionally the White Fang would rob the trains that passed by, leaving scrap metal from defensive robots, and occasionally a box of dust crystals. They were hardly in the best condition, but it was still more than enough to make something for combat. Aaron had made just enough money selling designs and fixing machinery to keep himself alive.

One design though he kept and did not show anyone. The most important lesson his mentor ever gave him and also the last, was that you must never give humanity something it could potentially use to harm itself. If given the chance humanity can and will destroy itself. Aaron used the design in his weapon and it had impressed Ozpin so much, that he finally let him in to Beacon.

Now Aaron was here, finally able to take the entrance exam to get into Beacon. He felt the pressure now for the first time, but he also felt the hope now that he was so close. Most of the students were brandishing their own weapons and showing off to the other students. Some of the boys were trying a little too hard to impress the girls. For some it was working, but not for all.

"So, yeah, I was the best magic user out of all of Vale, but spears are where it's at. It's got just enough range to prevent me from getting hit, but close enough that I can still see the light fade from their soulless eyes!" One such student said as he started leaning on his spear like a post. He was trying to impress one of the prettier girls on the airship, but by the look on her face it wasn't working.

"I don't think you'd be alive long enough to see that light fade," She said as she tapped the bottom of his spear. It flew out from under him and he fell flat on his back. A few of the surrounding students laughed.

"Stick to magic, you may live longer," She snidely finished as she turned and walked away.

The boy picked up his weapon and left the airship rubbing his sore behind. Aaron wished he could show the other students his weapon. Not to show off to the lovely lady huntresses to be, but to get feedback on its design and improve upon it. Though he liked the idea of being able to impress the ladies on the airship.

His main weapon, Talos, was a little too big to fit into the passenger section of the airship and had to be loaded into the cargo bay. It probably wouldn't be unloaded until the test, and even then, he may not be able to bring it into the test.

Two back up weapons were in his beat up leather bag as well as a small metal jetpack. These would hopefully help him last until his real weapon arrived. He fiddled with a small remote in his pocket about the size of his thumb. On it was one button that when pressed would call his weapon to wherever the signal came from.

Suddenly the airship gave a small jerk and the doors opened to let the students out onto the front campus. Some students rushed out while others took their time. Aaron was one of the last ones off the air ship because he needed to make sure he had everything in his bag.

As he stepped off the metal craft his heart suddenly leapt into his chest. Professor Ozpin was waiting for him. He had his coffee in his hand and looked like he had rested well.

"Good morning, Mr. Adamantine, I assume your journey was pleasant," Ozpin said. His voice was full of authority, even though what he said was not a command or a question. Yet at the same time he gave off a warm presence, almost like what one would experience when seeing an uncle.

"Yes sir, and you can just call me Aaron," Aaron said slightly sheepishly.

"Now where was that sense of confidence that gained you entry to this school?" Ozpin joked. When Aaron had tried to convince Ozpin to let him into the school he was full of confidence but now that Aaron was finally accepted into Beacon the pressure was on and he got a lot more nervous.

"Left it in the cargo bay with Talos," Aaron joked back. Ozpin let out a small smile.

"I see your sense of humor is still about you. Now if you wouldn't mind going for a short walk with me, there's something I would like to discuss with you," Ozpin requested.

"Of course sir," Aaron replied quickly, "Also, when can I get Talos out of the cargo bay?"

"We will have him unloaded and placed near the starting area of the entrance exam. I trust you still have the device that summons it?" Ozpin answered.

"Yes sir that I do," Aaron replied.

"Good, then let's start on that walk shall we?" and the two started on their walk around campus.

They started around the fountain in the front of campus and moved all the way to the back of campus where there was a garden. The entire time, Ozpin was somewhat quiet. Only asking short questions and really making small talk with Aaron, but now that there was no one else around Ozpin started to talk about more serious issues.

"Do you know why I allowed you into this school?" Ozpin asked. Aaron was caught off guard.

"I had assumed you found something within me that would turn me into a great hunter," Aaron answered being as diplomatic and general as possible. Ozpin looked at him and gave a crooked half smile.

"I suppose. I think that you still haven't figured out. Ironic that someone like you can create something as advanced as Talos and not understand why you're here, even with your semblance," Ozpin said.

Aaron was confused. Ozpin had helped him by awakening his aura after accepting him into Beacon, but Aaron had still not learned of his semblance. All he knew was that he only had a normal amount of aura.

"Regardless, if you pass the entrance exam, I want you to come to my office. I have something for you that I think that you can put to good use. Good luck, I have faith in you," Ozpin said as he walked away.

"No pressure," Aaron said to himself when Ozpin was out of earshot.

Balthazar Aether was sharpening his spear in the locker room getting ready for the entry exam. He had jet back messy hair and a fair complexion. His red-violet eyes were fixed on the whetstone as he moved it across the blade. He carefully inspected the blade after each stroke just like his mother taught him.

So far he had failed to impress anyone on his first day. Actually he had probably made some people wish they didn't know him. He wondered if anyone else had a similar experience on their first day. He put that thought aside and went back to taking care of his spear.

He remembered back to his time at Signal Academy. He could have easily been the best mage there, but instead he wanted to master the spear. His entire family had been hunters and huntresses who had mastered not only various forms of magic but close quarters combat as well.

Balthazar, unfortunately could not even be considered competent at close quarters combat. Magic however, came easy to him. It probably came easier to him than it did to most expert mages, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someday he would need to fight up close and his magic would fail him.

That was when he started using various weapons to see which one he was best with. His parents watched over him while he trained and gave him advice about which weapon to pick. Balthazar was not coordinated like his parents and almost every training weapon he used hit him just as much as it hit the training dummy he was fighting. The spear was the only weapon that he could use that didn't give him bruises when he used it. He still was not good at fighting with it, but it caused the least collateral damage.

"Hey Bally," A girl said as she approached Balthazar.

She was tall and gorgeous and walked with an aura of confidence about her. Her hair was a very light brown which in certain light, one could mistake for being blonde. Behind her was another girl. The girl was quite a bit shorter and looked a bit younger. She was not as classically beautiful as the taller girl, but she was still rather cute in her own way.

"Hey Melody," Balthazar responded briefly looking up from his spear. Then he noticed the girl behind Melody, "and hello, Arya."

Balthazar had known Melody and Arya since they were very young. They practically grew up together, but two years ago, Melody started dating Cadence, an arrogant brat who thought that he was better than everyone else. But Melody saw something in him that obviously Balthazar didn't see. He had tried to stay friends with her after that, but he couldn't stand to be around Cadence and he didn't like how Melody became when they were together. Arya decided to side with Melody and started spending less and less time with Balthazar. By the end of their time at Signal he had no real friends left. He was always rather odd and had a hard time making friends and though Melody and Arya tried to start conversations with him when Cadence wasn't around, it wasn't the same and it would always end not long after they began.

"I see you're still spending way too much time with that spear," Melody joked trying to get Balthazar to smile. Which was not actually very hard.

Balthazar gave a half smile, set down the whetstone and started to inspect the blade he had finished sharpening, "The more time I spend with it, the better I'll get."

"By that standard you should be way better than you actually are," Arya quipped. Despite looking innocent, she was very cynical and sarcastic.

"All I need is some more training. I'll find my groove eventually," Balthazar retorted defensively, "What makes two lovely ladies like you come to talk to a battle mage like me?"

"We just wanted to tell you the rumors we heard about the entrance exam," Melody said, "We're going to be put into teams of four, we're going to be required to retrieve a relic and this all takes place in a forest. Cadence has been talking to some of the older students and that's all he could get."

"Thanks," Balthazar said. There was an awkward silence in the room as Balthazar put away his spear and went to leave.

"We wanted to know if you wanted to be on our team," Melody said breaking the silence. Balthazar stopped and turned around. He looked somewhat confused. He didn't realize that Arya and Melody still considered him close enough to invite him onto a team.

"I know you and Cadence don't always see eye to eye, but I've talked to him. We need people we can trust on our team and though we all agree you're nothing special with a spear you are possibly the most talented mage of our generation and Arya and I are still your friends, no matter what you think."

Balthazar nodded and thought for a second, "Sure, I'll try and find you guys in the forest. Now if you'll excuse me, I think that they're serving dinner soon and man, embarrassing myself in front of our fellow students sure makes a guy hungry." Balthazar left the room.

Arya gave Melody a sideways look after Balthazar left, "And here I thought Cadence didn't want Balthazar on our team." A guilty look came across Melodies face and Arya knew that she was right, "He is not going to like this."

"Well this is just something that he will have to accept. It just doesn't feel right to let Balthazar off on his own. I just don't want him to get hurt," Melody explained. Arya did not look pleased.

"I know that he's still our friend even though we avoid each other like the plague, but for once I agree with Cadence. Balthazar will get us all killed. He doesn't know his own strength when it comes to his spells. He could be such a better fighter if he'd just give up on trying to smack everything with his spear and just burn it to a crisp like a normal person," Arya said disappointed and slightly angry.

"Arya, if we don't take him, what team will? We just need to make one sacrifice. After all, you, me and Cadence were the top 3 in the class from Signal. There's enough skill between us to make up for Balthazar's lack thereof."

"I hope you're right, Melody, 'cause if this goes south, I'm blaming you."

Rolf charged and let out three quick slashes with his great sword. Serena dodged effortlessly and returned with a round house kick to Rolf's ribs. His armor caught most of the blow, but the sheer force of the kick was still enough to make it hurt.

Serena thrust with one of her daggers, held with her ring and pinkie fingers and thumb while her index and middle fingers ran down parallel to the edges. Rolf saw it coming and caught Serena and threw her to the other side of the training ground with his free arm. Serena performed several flips mid-air and landed on her feet. There was a brief silence when she landed filled only with the two warriors breathing heavily.

"Take 5?" Serena suggested.

"Sounds good," Rolf replied. The pair made their way to a bench where they toweled off and took quick sips of water.

Rolf was a faunus. He had the ears of a wolf and his silver-grey hair was more similar to fur than it was human hair. His eyes were beady and his nose was small but he was a titan. While most hunters were about six feet, Rolf was easily seven feet tall with broad shoulders and gigantic arms, perfect for wielding a great sword. Commonly seen in Beacon were close quarters weapons that doubled as ranged weapons, but Rolf had never gotten used to the idea that a weapon could transform into a gun so he never made a weapon that could transform. He instead relied on his speed and his armor to close the distance between himself and his target.

Rolf had a huge crush on Serena. He had for several years now and though he tried not to let it show, he was never very good at hiding his feelings. She was also one of the few friends Rolf had ever had. He grew up in a neighbourhood that had very few faunus and several of the more prominent families in the community were not fond of faunus. Being raised in an environment like this caused Rolf to be ashamed of his faunus heritage. He had thought of asking out Serena a lot, but he was worried that if she did say yes she would be dragged into the faunus hate with him.

Serena was stunning. Most people that saw her believed she was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. However she treated people coldly, and her mannerisms made it look like she was angry all the time. The only person she could somewhat relax around was Rolf. Even then, she never really relaxed.

"I think you won that round," Rolf panted as he sat down on the bench. He squeezed his water bottle and drank a bit of water.

"I'm not sure about that. You scored one nice hit and I was off for the rest of the match," Serena said.

"Yeah, well I've got a bruised rib that says otherwise," Rolf said back tapping the side of his armor.

"You held back," Serena said, "I had to make sure you paid for it."

It was true. Ever since Serena saved Rolf from five of their school's biggest bullies he had been following her around. He would help carry her books, polish her weapons even be her partner in arms when they needed to fight. She had told him when this had first started that she was perfectly capable of doing all of those things on her own, but Rolf and Serena had become friends somewhere along the line and Serena had accepted the fact that Rolf would be something of a protector.

"So, who was that guy on the airship?" Rolf asked. He had a tendency to get a bit jealous when guys tried to flirt with Serena. Which, given her looks, was often. However most of the time she would reject guys flat out. But not always. Rolf tried his best to bury his feelings when she found someone that she liked, but it didn't always work.

"The guy I knocked over?" Serena asked in response, "No idea. He seemed like a big idiot if you ask me."

Serena started to sheathe her knives and started to make her way to the locker room. After a few steps she stopped and turned back.

"Hey, I hear that during the initiation test we get partners. Want to pair up?" Serena asked. She knew the answer, she just figured it was nicer to ask first.

"Always," Rolf said as their eyes met. Serena hated when Rolf looked at her like that. She knew how he felt. Anyone who had ever been around the two of them knew how Rolf felt about Serena. Serena's only regret was that she couldn't return the feelings.

Rolf was sweet and always looked out for others. He never hesitated if someone asked him for something, especially if that someone was Serena. It's what she admired most about him, and something she envied. She knew that even if she tried dating Rolf it would hurt him too much.

She left the room after nodding and giving a small half-smile. Rolf's stomach went into a bit of a knot. 'Always' was a bit much. True, but a bit much. He was always bad at reading people and it had led to some awkward misunderstandings in the past, and even after spending all this time with Serena he couldn't really read her either. Or maybe he just didn't want to.

It was now dark outside. The majority of students had fallen asleep in the great hall trying to get some rest before the entrance exam tomorrow. Some students were still awake because they were nervous, or they were on romantic walks around the moonlit campus.

Aaron was still awake because he was completely lost and could not find the great hall. When Ozpin left him in the garden Aaron had tried to make his way back to find the entrance but the maze of hedges took Aaron in several paths that completely disoriented him. When he did find his way inside, the sun was setting and he still had no idea where the great hall was.

Now walking through the maze of hallways he had no idea where he was. Usually Aaron had a good sense of direction, but that doesn't really mean anything when you're in a new part of the campus. True, he had been toBeacon four or five times, but each time he was either stopped in the courtyard or led directly to Ozpin's office.

The hallways in this section of Beacon were thin and high with doors locked by access cards. Aaron surmised that he was in one of the residences, though which one he could not say. Aaron felt a breeze and noticed one of the doors was open just a crack. From it he could hear a girl's voice.

"…Ruby, take a breath and explain it slowly," One of the girls said.

"Alright, well, I was just getting back from the airship because I had forgotten some of my stuff and Ozpin found me as I was entering the school. He said that there was some sort of new creature of Grimm in the Emerald Forest," another girl said. Aaron assumed that this girl was Ruby.

"Where is this information coming from?" a third girl asked. Her voice was deeper and calmer than the other two girls.

"Well, Ozpin said that two hunters went into the emerald forest to make sure that the Grimm populations were not too much for new students to handle, but they came across something else. He said that they both came back nearly beaten to death and with their weapons broken. One of the hunters told Ozpin that this Grimm was completely new. The other one probably isn't going to wake up any time soon… if he does wake up that is," Ruby said with a hint of worry in her voice.

Aaron then got worried. He stopped eavesdropping and headed down the hallway walking briskly. He looked back down the hallway towards the door that was slightly open, the girls inside hadn't noticed Aaron was eavesdropping. He took a deep breath.

"If something could nearly take out two hunters, what chance do new students have?" Aaron whispered to himself. Then he remembered back to Talos and the moment Ozpin had accepted him into Beacon.

That night Ozpin had come to Aaron's small hut by the train tracks. Aaron had tried to convince Ozpin to allow him to come to Beacon a few times, and Ozpin had decided to come to visit Aaron to see if he was ready. Then the shack was attacked by a pack of beowolves. Aaron had defeated them all using Talos and after a short conversation in Aaron's shack, Ozpin had agreed to let him into Beacon the month after.

Maybe this was what Ozpin wanted Aaron in Beacon for. Maybe he was there to take out this new creature of Grimm. Or at least, to make sure that the students didn't have to fight it. He thought back to his back up weapons and his jetpack. He would have to find a way to monitor the forest and make sure that no one would get hurt.

His stomach grumbled violently and then Aaron remembered, while he was wandering aimlessly around the campus he missed dinner. Aaron loved food. Though he didn't have much money in the shack and he had to skip meals at times due to lack of funds he would always look forward to when he could make himself a great meal. Though he always had to make sure there was enough money to work on Talos. Maybe tomorrow morning he'd get something good in the cafeteria before the exam. Then he and Talos would show Beacon what they were made of!

**_End of Episode 1_**

_**/**_


	2. Episode 2: Enter the Chimerion

**It's been two weeks so it's time for the second episode in Talos and the Chimerion! To those of you who read the previous chapter, welcome back! And to those of you just joining us, here's a brief recap:**

**- In our last installment, we were introduced to our protagonists, Aaron Adamantine, Rolf Ellisworth, Serena Castigo and Balthazar Aether! The night before the entry test in the emerald forest, Aaron overheard four upper year girls (guess who) talking about a mysterious new grimm that was seen in the emerald forest! The morning of the examination has come and will the new students be ready? Find out below! **

**If you want to keep updated on our story (A new chapter will be uploaded every two weeks!), you can go to our facebook page:**

** pages/Talos-and-the-Chimerion/296904920497101**

**Or favourite and follow this story! **

**Remember to write a review of the story if you have the time! They will all be read and it would be greatly appreciated!**

**Without further ado, here is chapter two-**

Written by Alexander Simone

Editted by Carl Lam

Talos_ and the Chimerion_

**_Episode 2 Enter the Chimerion_**

The next day the students were lined up on the launch pads. Everyone was in their combat gear and ready to get sent into the forest. Aaron was set up with his jetpack on his back, fueled and ready, as well as his custom made pistol at his side and his grappling hook lying horizontally in his belt across his lower back. Most importantly of all, he had his remote to summon Talos. As soon as he landed, he would have to summon Talos and then nothing could stop him.

"…Saying that, the first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your partner for the next four years," Ozpin continued his speech, "Once you have found your partner, you must go to a temple in the north end of the woods. There you will find a relic that you must bring back here…"

Aaron wondered whether or not Talos could be considered his partner…

Rolf and Serena were lined up beside each other on the launch pads. They had come up with their strategy the night before. They would use Serena's semblance to land and keep their momentum up. Serena had a unique semblance that allowed her to teleport and completely change her momentum, or if she were holding onto someone else, she could change their momentum as well.

Rolf was in his white armor with silver-grey trim, almost the same colour as his hair. His armor would glint in the sun, often getting in opponents eyes, which in close combat was useful. However it would attract the attention of most opponents from far away as well and that wouldn't do him any favours. Serena wore black leather armor with hidden scale mail underneath. It was silent and suited her ability for stealth and her daggers were perfect for striking without being seen. Her role in her and Rolf's formation was to remain in the shadows and take out any snipers or warn Rolf if there were approaching enemies. They listened to Ozpin's speech and braced themselves.

Balthazar was sitting on his launch pad. He was at the end of the line so he would either be the first one in the forest or the last. It didn't really matter though. He was sitting cross legged doing breathing exercises his parents had taught him. He reflected and realized he relied a lot on his parent's teaching. He looked at the spear on his lap and wondered if following exactly in the footsteps of his parents was the right thing to do.

Balthazar was wearing traditional robes of purple overtop blackened leather armor. Balthazar had added his own personal touches to the armor. He had opened the robes up in the front so that he could run unhindered and shortened the back so that if he had to shuffle he wouldn't step on it. He also had a bad habit of tripping and hitting his shins, so he put some bone plate shin and knee guards on so that if something happened he would not be hurt. Also, they allowed him to let off more powerful kicks.

He looked over to his right and saw Melody, Arya and Cadence lined up together. Arya and Melody were going over how they would find each other in the forest. They seemed completely distracted discussing their strategy in their combat gear. Balthazar couldn't help but remember the days where they used to play castle in the park. Now they were in the exam to get into Beacon, all grown up.

Cadence looked over to see Balthazar looking at their group. He met Balthazar's eyes and gave a cold disapproving look. Balthazar maintained eye contact for a few seconds and then gazed out over the forest. Maybe joining Melody, Arya and Cadence wasn't the best idea. Problem was he didn't know anyone else here. Who else would actually join up with an idiot like him?

"Good luck, everyone" Ozpin said as he finished his speech.

"Oh and one more thing," Ozpin remembered, "We have provided a list of all of the discovered creatures of Grimm. If you come across one that is not on the list, please do not engage and escape back to the cliffs while you can."

Aaron remembered the conversation he overheard about a strange new Grimm, back when he was lost in Beacon. He looked over to the end of the line. On one side of the line was another student meditating. His spear was laid across his lap. He looked like he was a serious warrior, but then Aaron recognized his face and remembered him from the air ship.

On the other side of the line was a group of four girls. All of whom were very pretty. They were dressed in white, yellow, black and red clothes and had their weapons at their sides. They weren't on launch pads which would mean that they weren't initiates. Then why were they here? Were they here for the new Grimm and not him?

Before Aaron could finish his thought he was propelled forward and into the air. There wasn't much time to think about who was or wasn't after the new Grimm. Now he had to think about not landing on his face. He tried to gain some sense of balance before he initiated his jetpack. After adjusting and noting where the ground was, he extended his arms and Aaron entered a controlled descent. After a second he pushed a button on his harness.

Two wings came out of the pack and Aaron's descent slowed to a stop as he hovered in mid-air. The jet pack had been a gift from his mentor. He remembered almost crashing into a silo when he first got it. That nearly got his parents to stop talking to Aaron's mentor. With some convincing, they allowed the mechanic to continue to teach Aaron.

Aaron had modified it a bit to last longer in the air. He had also made it a little easier to control after the silo incident. He wanted full control of his movement, especially if he needed it for aerial combat.

Suddenly a loud blood-curdling scream came from the outskirts of the forest. Aaron looked around for a clearing to land. When he summoned Talos he would be able to get through the forest faster. Aaron found a clearing and landed. He pulled the remote out of his pocket and pushed the button. A distant hum of motors could be heard and he knew that Talos would be here soon.

"Based on the level of sound from the initial push of the button I'd say Talos is 0.335 kilometers away, and given the power output and density of trees, I'd say Talos will get here in 15.6 second… Approximately," Aaron told himself. He found it easier to do calculations when thinking out loud.

Unbeknownst to Aaron, lurking in the bushes at the edge of the clearing was a lone beowolf. The beowolf jumped out of the bushes and bolted towards Aaron. The monster was easily seven feet tall on all fours and bounding fast. Aaron quickly drew his pistol and shot 3 rounds directly into the beast's gaping mouth. Those three shots would normally break through the skull of any Grimm, butapparently this one had more armor. It didn't really matter though.

The beast staggered back and it gave Aaron just enough time to put away his pistol and draw his grappling hook. From behind him, there came a loud thumping and a familiar sound of gears and pistons. Without looking back, Aaron aimed the grappling hook behind him and fired. There was a metallic hiss of a door unsealing. The hook clanged against something metal and Aaron felt his feet lift off the ground as he was pulled back into Talos' open cockpit.

Talos was a twelve foot tall mecha with the cockpit dead centre. It had short stubby legs, but they moved fast. It had long apelike arms covered in gold painted metal plating. The cockpit was located in between the shoulders on the lower chest of the mecha. It was completely cased in a bullet proof glass with three blinking lights around it, two on the top corners, and one at the end of a curvature at the bottom of the cockpit. These lights emitted a powerful force field around the cockpit and the rest of Talos to make it more resilient than any other metal. In the cockpit, various meters and gauges were projected onto the glass so Aaron could check power levels and damage. Unlike some of the other designs from Atlas, this mecha would not fall apart after repeated hits and was much, much stronger.

Though Talos was made of scrap metal, you wouldn't have been able to tell. There was no rust, it was all clean edges and curves, finished off with a beautiful paint job. Aaron sometimes was taken aback that it was made completely from scratch. It was mostly gold, but some smaller parts had been painted blue and trimmed with white. Mounted on top of Talos was a scaled up version of an ancient army helmet to give a bit more of a human look.

Inside the cockpit, metal arms and straps attached themselves to Aaron. They would pick up the slightest movement and would move Talos accordingly. Though the reaction time made it slower than most hunters, it more than made up for it in terms of power and resistance. Each of Talos's hands housed the most powerful firearm in existence, a proton cannon. This entire mechanism was powered by the one design that he had never shown anyone, the dust-fusion engine. Completely clean, 100% efficient and resilient enough to take hits from any creature of Grimm.

As Aaron was strapped into Talos, he didn't skip a beat. Talos kept charging at the stunned lone beowolf. The cockpit closed and Aaron raised Talos giant fist. As the lone beowolf resumed its charge, the fist came down and crushed the beowolf's skull against the ground.

Talos picked itself up and Aaron tried to remember where the scream came from. He eventually decided on a direction and Talos bounded off. The sound of its engines were nearly deafening as it tore through the forest at top speed. Aaron hoped whoever screamed was still ok.

Balthazar was charging furiously through the forest. Only one person could have made a scream like that. Melody. He felt so guilty that he didn't land with his old friends. No matter how much he didn't like Cadence, it didn't justify leaving them like that. If anything happened to them-

He didn't want to think about it. He just had to focus on getting to his friends while he still could. Well, that and escaping the king taijitu that was right on his tail. It had been following Balthazar for a little while now. It was a good thing that he was such a good runner.

It was not so good that Balthazar was not very coordinated. For a split second Balthazar lost his focus and tripped over a tree root. He tried to get up as fast as he could, but the taijitu struck him with the back of its tail and flung him into a tree. He hit it hard and slid to the base of the tree.

After getting back up he picked up his spear and headed right for the taijitu. The taijitu saw it coming and lunged, mouth agape. Balthazar knew that he couldn't beat the taijitu with just his spear so he threw the spear into the taijitu's mouth and letting it get caught against its teeth. The monster's mouth was stuck open and Balthazar jumped back as the giant snake's head crashed into the dirt. Balthazar's violet eyes glowed blue briefly and lightning jumped from his hands and formed a circle in front of him.

"Tempest gate!" Balthazar yelled as the circle of lightning released arced electricity into the taijitu. It began to writhe in pain and then it slumped limp against the ground. After the spell had run its course, Balthazar was about to pick up his spear when he saw a giant mechanical ape-man at the other side of the clearing.

He could see that in its chest was a student. He didn't recognize him, but now that they made eye contact he assumed that they were now partners. The machine approached and the cockpit opened. As the robot approached, Balthazar couldn't help but tighten his muscles a little bit. He felt that the giant metal man could easily crush him by accident. He hoped the other student had better control than that.

"So I was going to ask if you needed help, but I'm guessing that you don't really need it anymore," the student in the cockpit joked. Balthazar smiled a little.

"Well if you had spoken up earlier I would have gladly let you finish this thing off," Balthazar said as he picked the spear out of the dead snake's mouth, "So do you have a partner?"

"Well, I didn't before so I guess I have one now. My name's Aaron," Aaron said introducing himself, "And this big hunk of metal here is Talos, my weapon and mecha."

"Not gonna lie, it's a little freaky, but it is totally awesome," Balthazar said as he inspected the mecha, "and my name's Balthazar, master of magic and novice with a spear. But my friends just call me Bally."

"I would shake your hand, but I'm in a bit of a rush. We can go get our relic in a second, but first I need to go investigate that scream. I can't just leave other students knowing they may be in danger," Aaron said. Balthazar suddenly remembered Melody's scream and face went pale. He desperately hoped he wasn't too late.

"Melody! Crap, we have to get there fast! Hey, how fast can that thing, I mean, Talos, go?" Balthazar asked impatiently.

"Fast. Now hop on, hold on and let's go. We've got classmates to save," and the new partners bounded off into the forest.

Rolf and Serena had been running through the forest together as soon as their feet touched the ground. They were farther ahead of any group as far as Serena had determined and they had almost come upon the north end of the forest. With their original plan, they had avoided many encounters with the creatures of Grimm, however some of the weaker groups were simple plowed through with Serena first weakening the group, followed by Rolf charging straight through it at full strength.

Rolf and Serena were probably the best fighting team in all of Vale, possibly all of Remnant. There was no way that there was anyone else in the exam that had the chemistry they had together on the battle field. After years of training and fighting together they could predict what the other was going to do almost perfectly.

After about forty five minutes of straight running, they reached the forest temple. Serena leapt out of the shadows to join Rolf's side. There were no creatures of Grimm around so they did not have anything to fear for the time being. Something else was off though. Serena couldn't explain it, but something wasn't quite right.

"Stay on guard. I didn't detect any creatures of Grimm, but there's something wrong here," Serena instructed Rolf.

"I agree. Something even smells off. Like someone's been here recently," Rolf said. He looked at the pedestals and every relic was still there. No student had entered the temple and retrieved their relic yet. Odd.

The duo entered the rotunda and looked at all of the relics. They were simple pentagons with carvings on them. Because they were the first ones there, they could pick from any of the pentagonal stones. Serena approached one right at the back of the temple, there was a simple circle on it, but for some reason it felt right to take this relic.

Rolf saw that she had chosen one and walked to meet her. Serena touched the stone and suddenly looked up. Standing on top of one of the temple columns was a figure wrapped in a ninja's garb. She grabbed the stone and jumped back taking out one of her knives. Unlike during her training sessions, she hid her knives for combat in her sleeves. She whipped her arm and out came one of the knives directly into her hand.

Rolf noticed something was wrong so he drew his weapon as well, then noticing the shadowy figure standing on top of the column. How had they not noticed it when they entered? The figure's clothes were baggy enough that neither Serena nor Rolf could tell if the figure was male or female. Everything was covered in bandage like cloth with the exception of its eyes, which felt like they were staring into your soul.

Who or what was this thing?

Talos exited the forest to find itself in a rock outcropping. Aaron saw three students that were beaten nearly to death. One male student was sprawled on the ground unconscious while a female student was standing kneeling over him desperately trying to heal him. His breathing was laboured and he had cuts and bruises all across his body. The girl was injured as well, but at least she was still conscious. Further into the clearing was another female student. She was on one knee, holding her stomach. There was blood all over the rocks around her and around the male student. On the other side of the outcropping was an ominous fog. Something was very wrong here.

"Arya, Melody! What happened to Cadence!?" Balthazar yelled worriedly as he climbed down from Talos.

The girl who was healing the male student looked up. "Bally, go help Melody! We found that new Grimm, but it was too powerful. Please, we can't take it on our own!" The girl shouted. Aaron could see the fog thinning. Something was lurking in it. It had four glowing red eyes all staring at the girl separated from the other two. Aaron assumed this was Melody.

"Arya, you don't have much magic left, you can't go on healing Cadence like this or you'll end up just like him. Get out of here, me and Aaron will take care of this," Balthazar commanded the weakened girl.

"But what about Melody?" She asked. Aaron could see that Melody was not about to move anywhere fast and with that thing lurking in the fog, she probably wouldn't be able to get away. Suddenly the monster leapt out of the fog.

"Melody!" Balthazar screamed. Melody looked back with tears in her eyes.

Without thinking Aaron and Talos leapt to reach Melody. Talos' legs might have been short, but they were by no means slow. There was a loud crash as metal met bone plating. The impact of the crash created a powerful shockwave that cleared the fog.

With one arm, Talos held back the creature. Its mighty hand gripped the bone exoskeleton on its skull. The other hand held an injured Melody. Tears were still in her eyes as she looked into the cockpit to see Aaron looking back at her. Aaron gave a wink.

"Talos, activate megaphone," Aaron said from inside the cockpit. It did not allow sound to travel very well so if he needed to talk to anyone during combat, the megaphone would allow him to project his voice across the battlefield.

"Balthazar, can you come here and get Melody for me? I'll take care of this thing," Aaron blared over the microphone.

"On my way," Balthazar shouted as he helped Arya up with Cadence who was slowly regaining consciousness.

As Balthazar ran towards Talos, Aaron extended Talos' hand backwards away from the monster. Melody painfully climbed off into Balthazar's arms who led her off to the side of the outcropping. Aaron was now able to see the monster that was struggling against Talos' other arm.

The beast was nearly as tall as Talos on all fours. It looked like a giant black lion, with a shaggy black and white speckled mane, and a long tail with what looked to be a mace on the end. Instead of claws, it had three blades protruding from each of its three digits on its feet. On its face was bone plating that extended downwards and merged into two-meter long fangs. All along its stomach and sides were bone hexagons with runes on them, unlike any other Grimm. On its back were two asymmetrical horns.

Aaron lifted Talos' other hand to strike the monster, but then the creature struck the hand that was holding it with its maced tail and attacked Talos with its claws. A flurry of slashes came across Talos. Aaron tried to block but they were too fast. Fortunately, they were not enough to take out Talos' force field. As the monster reared on its hind legs Talos let out a massive punch and knocked the creature off balance. It fell backwards and Talos gained the initiative

Talos let out a flurry of punches and blows to keep the monster at bay. Occasionally its claws would score a glancing hit, but nothing like the slashes it had made before. The beast jumped back and looked at Talos with its four glowing red eyes. It braced itself and let out a massive roar.

It hit with an incredible force and nearly knocked Talos back. Aaron tried to look over to see if Balthazar and his friends were ok but the monster pounced on Talos as Aaron was caught off guard and began to slash again at the cockpit pinning down Talos. The force field was starting to give.

The creature raised its head about to drop its fangs into the cockpit. With the force field as low as it was, if this thing bit into Talos it would hit Aaron directly. He made Talos extend its hands as the beast's fangs came down on Talos and it caught the fangs but the creature was strong. Its fangs were slowly creeping towards the cockpit. Aaron strained against the pressure.

Aaron decided to take a different approach. Instead of pushing up against the monster, he pulled each arm sideways, and the creature stopped its advance and tried to pull away. Aaron put all of Talos' power behind its grip and slowly pulled apart the beasts bone plating. It started screeching in pain and suddenly one of the fangs gave way. It flew to the other side of the clearing and the sudden change of force launched the monster to the other side.

It struggled, shook its head and tried to get on all fours. Aaron made Talos stand back up and then he looked at Talos' left hand that had pulled off the fang. There was a huge gash across the centre of the palm. Even with a small amount of force field, there shouldn't have been that much damage. It also prevented Aaron from using the proton cannon in its left hand.

Aaron looked up at the creature. Along with the fang, came a small section of the plating over the creature's head. Underneath it was an oozing black miasma. What was this thing?

Suddenly it bowed its head and fog emitted from the horn on its back. The battlefield was completely engulfed in fog. Aaron braced Talos for a strike, but nothing happened. Was it going to go after Balthazar and the others? Aaron didn't want to take that chance.

There was a whir of motors and Talos' right hand transformed into the Proton cannon. A sharp crystal protruded from the palm of Talos' hand and each of its fingers was pulled back. As the proton cannon charged, the ions that built up in the cannon pushed back the fog. Aaron could then see the glowing eyes of the monster.

As the fog cleared Aaron could see why the beast had summoned the fog. While under the cover of fog, the beast healed itself. The bone plating was slowly growing back, covering the oozing black miasma. What was this thing?

Balthazar had led Arya and Melody to a patch of trees that Talos hadn't knocked over. Draped over Balthazar's shoulders was Cadence. He wasn't looking too good.

"Alright, we have to stop here," Balthazar gasped. He couldn't carry Cadence any further. The group then sat back down against some trees and started trying to catch their breath. Balthazar set Cadence down and examined him. Most of the large cuts had been healed by Arya, but there was still some broken ribs and internal bleeding to heal. He was far from in the clear.

Arya moved from the tree where she was sitting and started making her way towards Cadence. She was tired and limping, but she needed to heal him or he wouldn't make it through the ordeal. Then again, she may not be able to heal him completely but she had to try.

Balthazar then moved to stop Arya. He held her shoulders and gave her a worried look.

"I have to, Bally. He may not make it," Arya said.

"I know," Balthazar replied. Arya looked shocked. She knew Balthazar and Cadence didn't like each other, but she didn't think that he would kill him.

Balthazar took a breath and continued, "If you heal him, you may end up just like him. Let me."

"Bally, you don't know how to use healing magic. You're all elements and destruction, you could end up killing him!" Arya said.

"No, I know how to use it. I've just never had to because you're around," Balthazar said smiling, "I learned everything about healing magic from watching you. Don't worry, I can do this."

Arya didn't know what to say. If she let Balthazar do this, and Cadence didn't make it, she didn't know if she could go on as a huntress in training. Then again, if she tried to heal Cadence with what little energy she had, she may not make it either. Her conflicting thoughts dueled in her head as she searched for a solution.

"Melody!" She cried in desperation.

Melody had been leaning against a tree. She needed healing as well, but for the time being she could make it on her own. She had also been listening to Arya and Balthazar's argument. If anyone would be able make a level-headed decision it would be Melody.

"Bally," Melody said determined, "I trust you."

Balthazar responded with a nod. Arya backed up and took a deep breath. Balthazar stuck his spear in the ground and moved to stand over Cadence. Unlike most warriors who required dust and weapons to channel magic, Balthazar had a unique gift. He didn't need it. He could channel magic using only his body as a medium. If he channeled his spells through dust crystals, they would grow to exponential power, however they also destroyed whatever encased the dust crystal.

Balthazar looked down at Cadence. Balthazar held great dislike for this man before him. He did however like Arya and Melody, and no matter who was dying before him, he couldn't just let them suffer. Balthazar extended his hands and made a triangle with his thumbs and fingers. He closed his eyes and took a moment's pause before beginning. This would either be really good, or really bad.

A channeling circle of light appeared around Cadence and Balthazar's violet eyes glowed a bright yellow.

**_End of Episode 2_**

**_Tune in two weeks time as the fight against the Mysterious beast and Talos continues!_**

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End file.
